Trapped
by VisualExperiments
Summary: * General Ryou Bakura angst. Slight violence/implied rape in later chapters. * When a snow storm of violent proportions springs up, Ryou is stuck alone in his house - with Yami Bakura.
1. Trappings of the Physical

Kano: Hello, we're back and with the next chapter-thingy of our deranged story. Um, slight violence in this, but not much. And Thanks for the reviews everyone, without them I wouldn't be as happy about continuing the story as I am.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh, Ryou, Bakura, or anything else. If you sue me all you will get is a small metal froggy, a really strange looking goldfish, and my annoying little sister.

****

Bakura suddenly wanted to slap his Hikari. 

Ryou had been sitting on the living room floor for the past 15 minutes.

Not doing anything.

Just _sitting_ there.

Bakura could hear the steady howl of the wind, and the chill penetrated throughout Ryou's entire house. Bakura shivered, despite himself.

He hated the cold with a fervent passion.

He hated that Ryou was ignoring him almost as much.

Bakura had been standing in the entryway to the living room, and in that whole time Ryou had not moved a single muscle. Sure, Bakura had been ignoring his white-haired host for the past few weeks, but atleast that had been amusing. This definately wasn't.

The cold sure as Hell wasn't helping his mood either. In fact, the more he thought about it, the angrier he got. And the angrier he got, the more and more he realized that he needed something to take that anger out on. Or someone.

That was about the time the idea had come to him to just walk over there and slap the zoned-out little Baka. Not only would he be getting rid of those insistently murderous urges, but Ryou would also be forced to acknowledge his presence.

__

Perfect.

So, intentions firmly fixed in his mind, Bakura pushed himself up from his former leaning position against the wall, strode silently to where the worthless nuisance sat, and crouched down in front of him.

It took a few moments, but Ryou finally lifted his head, his eyes following ever so slowly, and ended up staring at an imaginary bloodstain on his darker half's jeans.

__

Or maybe not so imaginary..'

Ryou thought with a slight shudder. He had learned long ago to _never_ look Bakura in the eyes.

The entity in question drew his hand back, but found that the anger and purpose behind it had faltered and faded. There was a strange expression in Ryou's half-lidded eyes..Bakura had never seen it before, and yet it felt rightly familiar to him.

He found he was staring down at the pale youth. At some point his arm had fallen back to his side. Ryou was utterly immobile, his knees drawn up beneath his chin, arms dangling at his sides limply, delicate hands barely resting against the harshly cold floor.

Somewhere the wind howled.

In a neighbor's house, the phone rang.

And then Bakura shocked the both of them, and changed what might have been a rather unextraordinary day.

What are you thinking about? '

Ryou flinched involuntarily, a habit born of years of constant stress and fear, but suddenly realized Bakura hadn't yelled at him. He wasn't even angry, or atleast not as much as he had been a few moments ago. 

There was a sort of child-like curiosity in the reluctant question, though the edge was still apparent, an unspoken threat of pain, the promise of it if whatever Bakura wanted was not given to him.

It was a sort of coldness that ruined everything Bakura said, tarnished and twisted it, made it evil and threatening, though Bakura's intentions were usually the same.

Ryou considered telling Bakura exactly what he was thinking about, but when he opened his mouth to speak, new words sprouted from his pale lips.

' Couldn't you just read my mind and find out for yourself..'

It was spoken in that soft, utterly unobtrusive way that Ryou never seemed able to shake off, and yet the moment the words were out of his mouth he winced and wished he hadn't spoken at all.

The blow landed a split second afterwards, not across his jaw as Ryou would have expected, but on the side of his head, just above his ear. There was a dull thunk as Bakura's knuckles slammed into the slightly smaller boy, the harshness of the single blow and the muted cry it produced mingling and drowned out by the storm.

Through the ringing in his head and the sharp ache found there, Ryou heard his Other stomp up the stairs. A moment later Ryou's bedroom door was slammed shut, so hard it seemed the very walls shook.

****

Bakura paced back and forth in Ryou's room, occasionaly stopping to scream a few choice words in ancient egyptian, mostly directed at his Hikari, some directed at himself.

After a few minutes of this, Bakura managed to calm himself down. Sort of. He was just contemplating punching a new hole into Ryou's wall when there a came a very soft knock on the bedroom door. 

Bakura sneered at the boy whom he knew stood behind the closed door.

' Knocking on the door to your own bedroom now, Baka ? '

When there was no reply from Ryou, mental or otherwise, Bakura flung open the door so hard that it slammed back against the wall. Ryou stood there, a hastily prepared ice pack held against one side of his head. 

Nearly black eyes peered up at a space a few inches to the side of Bakura's head, but even that was a feat for the whiny Hikari. Usually Ryou's eyes were downcast, staring at the floor or some spec of dirt on his shoes. But not now.

' Did you want to know what I was thinking about, Bakura-sama ? '

****

Kano: It has just occurred to me that I could sooo very easily turn this into a Yaoihmm..Yaoi..

:: pause ::

:: audience holds their breath in anxious silence ::

Kano: ..Nah.


	2. Trappings of The Psyche

Kano: This is my first little fanfic..mostly the product of me being up waaay too late at night without any coffee. Heh, flame away if you so desire. And if not, please review.

****

It was one of the biggest storms Tokyo had seen in years. The power had flickered a little, but it remained strong. Most people were staying indoors, and the few that were unlucky enough to be caught out in the middle of the unfavorable weather sought shelter in the nearest buildings, waiting for the storm to ease up.

That was why it was of little surprise when schools in Tokyo began to cancel, one by one. The announcer had just had the pleasure of reading off the long list of school cancellations, and continued to ramble on about other happenings of that morning, most involving car crashes and other weather-related accidents. One white-haired boy was deaf to the announcer's voice. Instead he lay in bed, perfectly still, trying to get his mind around the fact that he would be stuck- no_ trapped _- in the house all day with someone who would sooner kill him then look at him.

The boy, who went by the name of Ryou, sighed as he sat up in bed, trying not to alert Bakura to the fact that his worthless punching bag was awake. It quickly became apparent that he had failed miserably as Bakura's icy voice hissed at him through their mind-link.

// _What do you think you're doing?_ // 

Ryou's mind whirled to come up with an answer that would not enrage his darker half. Ryou knew well enough that Bakura was definitely not a morning person – well, he wasn't much of a day person either, but it was almost suicidal to anger Bakura if he had just woken up. After a few moments of tense silence, Ryou finally stuttered out his reply.

S-school is cancelled today Bakura-sama. I thought I might be able to go downstairs to see how bad the weather is..'

Actually, that was only a half truth, but Ryou would have done anything – even lie to a murderous spirit – to be allowed out of his room. 

__

If I could even call it that..

Bakura allowed Ryou to have very few personal possessions, so it barely seemed as if anyone actually lived in the small bedroom. It was so sterile, so impersonal, a reminder of just how much control Bakura exerted over him now. Vaguely, Ryou tried to recall a time when it had been any other way, and with crushing disappointment realized that what had once been his life had dwindled down to a few hazy memories. 

When no answer was forthcoming from Bakura as to whether or not he was allowed to leave his room, Ryou took a deep breath and opened his door, making his way slowly downstairs. He had to do it carefully though, because ever since Bakura had found out that his little Baka was afraid of the dark, he had refused to allow Ryou to turn any of the lights in the house on. 

For his own personal pleasure, Bakura also made sure the shades were drawn on every window in the house, and it was Ryou's belief that Bakura had boarded up the window in his room because there hadn't been any shades for him to cover it over with. 

But there was no way for Ryou to know for sure. Bakura rarely spoke to him anymore – even during his lessons'. Even though Ryou hated to admit it, the utter silence from Bakura was more unnerving then when he would yell and scream at him, call him a weak, worthless little bastard. ' No - even that was better then the calm fury Ryou saw in Bakura's eyes whenever his Other bothered to look in his general direction.

Ryou managed to make it into the kitchen without tripping over any of Bakura's scattered clothing and other random belongings the spirit had claimed his own, now clearly able to hear the wind that wailed outside. Pulling back the curtain from a window, dark chocolate-brown eyes watched as snow was blown mercilessly back and forth through the air, like a thick, moving sheet of white. 

He could imagine how the snow would sting his body and his eyes, and the bitter cold would press around him, squeezing against his chest and through his clothes to chill his exposed skin. Ryou closed his eyes, sighing once more as he let the fabric fall back into place. 

__

Trapped. 

In the utter silence he could hear his heartbeat, the sound of his unsteady breathing echoing in his ears, the heavy cloth of the curtain as it shifted, finally falling still.

Minutes passed.

Everything was so still.


	3. A Recounting Of Tales

Kano: Wheeeeee! I'am back. I'am not dead, or atleast not yet, and I come bearing the next chapter of my story-thing, which has been developing daily in my notebook. It now has some 28-odd pages..so..that means I have a lot of typing to dodarn.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. If I did, the entire basis of the story would be..quite different. So Thank the Goddess I don't, and a bunch of corporation-people do.

****

The words were spoken so softly that if Bakura had not seen Ryou's lips move, he would have doubted that the boy had spoken at all. Bakura said nothing in reply, and Ryou's eyes slowly fell back to stare at the ground and his barefeet.

Did I ever tell you I had a cat once ? '

Ryou's voice was a little bit louder then it had been a few moments before, but it was still a whisper. When he finally dared to look up again, shadowed sienna eyes regarded him with the desperate suspicion born of paranoia, and anger looming, as it always had, just beneath the surface. Bakura had made no movements to allow Ryou inside the bedroom, and so they remained standing, silent. Finally Bakura spoke, his voice harsh in a warning Ryou recognized well.

' No. You've never mentioned it. '

Ryou nodded, though it seemed more to himself then to Bakura.

And then he began to speak.

' When I was little and my family and I still lived in England, my Mother brought home a stray kitten..to give to me as an early birthday present. It was so exciting, because I had never had a real pet before. I named him Aukial, and he slept with me in my room every night.. '

Ryou paused, but Bakura said nothing. It was hard to tell whether ot not he was listening, but somehow Ryou knew he was.

' But then one day a few weeks later..my..my Mother took ill. A few days passed..the doctors had no idea what was wrong with her. Nearly a month passed and she became bed-ridden. That was when the storm came. '

Ryou's voice had been growing steadily softer, until Bakura could barely hear him at all. Now he had completely stopped talking.

' And ? '

The word was spoken softly, and out of Bakura's mouth before he even realized he was saying anything. The white-haired youth kept his head bowed, his breathing noticeably shaky.

Bakura realized with a start that he was trying not to cry.

' When I awoke that morning the storm had stopped..but Aukial had dissapeared. I remember how much I had begged my Mother to come and help me look for him, but she couldn't, she was just too tired. I went outside, just for a moment, just to see if he was nearby..but when I came back my Mother had died. I was left alone with my Father..and..'

Ryou's voice nearly broke, but years of Bakura screaming at him for acting like a weak little child came back to him, and no tears fell. Instead, he looked abck up at the not-so-imaginary blood stain on Bakura's jeans.

' That's what I was thinking about. The storm reminded me of it..'

Bakura said nothing for the longest time, simply staring down at Ryou who began to fidget under his analytical gaze.

' A cat, hmm? '

Ryou nodded, wary. Perhaps telling Bakura hadn't been such a good idea..

' Hai, Bakura-sama. '

Bakura backed away from the door, leaving it open behind him as he sat down on the edge of Ryou's bed. After a few seconds Ryou followed him inside, but instead of sitting down on the bed, he settled down on the floor just to oen side of Bakura's legs, leanig up against his bed frame.

Minutes passed in silence.

The storm still raged in all it's useless fury, wailing just outside the door.

****

Kano: :: nod :: That didn't take quite so long. I'am going to go start typing up the next chapter since I still have some luke-warm orange juice left. Did I mention I like Orange juice ?


	4. A N G E RM A N A G E M E N T

Kano: :: cough :: I just found out that I am on three different people's favorite's list and I would just like to say OH MY GODDESS OZARK I LOVE YOUR JOEY/SETO FIC!

And now that that's over, on to the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. I and about a million other fan-girls would really like to, but then the show could only be shown at 12 pm on really..um..liberal channels. Oh, and censors are evil.

****

I once had a cat. '

Ryou's mind had been so elsewhere that it took a few moments for that barely-uttered sentence to sink into his psyche. Bakura's expression had not changed, and Ryou wondered if his Other was telling the truth at all..but, why would he be lying?

You did Bakura-sama? 

Bakura, on the other hand, was contemplating whether or not to kick the quiet Hikari for daring to question him, but what would have been so easy a gesture the day before was something Bakura now found he would rather not do. 

Perhaps he was just glad to have someone actually willing to listen to him-But, no. Bakura knew that if it hadn't been for the storm, Ryou would be in school right now and doing his damndest to ignore him.

Yes, in a way I did. '

__

Halting footsteps made their way cautiously through the palace corridors. A flash of pale skin – almost too pale for a slave of Egypt – and off-white hair in the moonlight that cascaded into the otherwise shadowed hallways.

Despite the fact that cats were held sacred in Egypt and that by decree only the Pharaoh and his family were allowed to own them, the young boy was determined to lay eyes on one of the graceful creatures.

And 12 year old Bakura always got what he wanted – one way or the other.

Bakura had often come to the palace in the past for the reason he now had to restrain himself from doing.

Stealing.

And so it was that he was able to avoid the Pharaoh's guards with seeming ease. Bakura was not at all surprised to find that the cat's resting place was not far from it's owner's, the Pharaoh's son.

Though the white-haired youth had slowly grown accustom to the many great and beautiful things found within the palace walls, he had not anticipated such grandeur for the Royal Family's Beast. Great pillars of marble rose up from a pearly-white floor, little veins of gold running through the ground beneath his feet. 

A dais inlaid with gems that glittered red, yellow, and blue was set at the center of the spacious room. Bakura cautiously approached the raised steps, tense, still straining his ears for any approaching guards. His dark sienna eyes remained fixed on the platform above him, even as he walked up the beautifully shimmering stairs.

His eyes grew wide when he finally lay eyes on the Beast ', curled up into a small slim crescent as white as the full moon. It held it's head up high and gazed on the intruder with slanted amber eyes. It was as if the cat – for Bakura knew that that was what it must be – had been expecting him this whole time.

It was that exact moment that he felt a hand grab his arm roughly and –

Bakura had to forcefully propel himself back into the present. Ryou had said something and was looking up at Bakura in concern.

What is it ? '

Bakura's voice had lost some of it's anger, but none of it's threatening tone. Ryou tilted his head to one side, and for the first time Bakura could see the nasty lump of a bruise that had begun to form just above Ryou's hairline. 

Ignoring whatever question the boy had asked, Bakura surprised himself by asking one of his own.

Doesn't your head hurt ? '

Ryou blinked up at him, eyes drifting briefly over his face.

Not really. '

Bakura frowned a little. Why was he even asking? Why should he even care? Perhaps recalling his child-hood memories had caused this sudden show of..of guilt.

Not concern. Guilt.

Ryou had fallen to staring at him again, eyes fixed on something on Bakura's hand. Minutes went by in silence, but finally something in Ryou's gaze quickened.

He hesitated when he spoke, every word spoken in reluctance.

Bakura-sama? '

The older boy had to suppress the growl in his throat. Ryou hadn't read his thoughts had he?..No, his barriers against the boy had always been unbreakable. But if he had – he would have a few new bruises to go along with the one on his head.

In fact, for good measure Bakura lashed out at the boy. The kick landed somewhere on his arm, followed by Bakura's harsh voice.

What? '

Ryou rubbed at his arm before replying.

I..was..just wondering..did you have a Mother? '

For a moment, Bakura was at a loss as to how to reply. Another kick, this tiem alnding squarely on Ryou's ribs, took care of that problem.

Of course I did, Baka. What are you getting at? 

The white-haired boy beneath him winced at the injury, but nothing more then that.

..Do you miss her? '

Bakura stared at Ryou in open disbelief.

Who ? My _Mother_? '

Ryou nodded faintly, pressing the ice pack more securely against his head. Bakura shrugged off-handedly.

I suppose so.. My Mother and I were never very close..'

Dark brown eyes narrowed, Bakura's tone suddenly one of paranoid suspicion once more.

Why? '

Ryou, thinking that Bakura was close to kicking him again, answered without really thinking about what he was saying.

I thought that maybe that was why you were so sad Bakura-sama – '

Whatever the rest of Ryou's sentence had been was cut off by a yelp. Bakura had snatched him up by the front of his sweater as if he weighed nothing, which was basicly true, pulling him up until their faces were only inches apart.

Ryou could feel the heat of Bakura's odorless breath on his cheek, see how even Bakura's seemingly pale skin had a faintly golden tinge.

The white-haired spirit's grip tightened around Ryou's sweater. When he spoke, each word was harsh, ground out between clenched teeth.

I. Am. Not. Scared. I. Do. Not. Get. Scared. _Ever._ Got it ? '

Ryou nodded, and he was dropped to land rather ungracefully back on the floor. The ice pack lay forgotten a few feet behind him, melting even as Bakura stood up from the bed.

The temperature had quickly shot up, and the Millenium Ring concealed beneath Ryou's sweater felt like it had suddenly caught on fire.

Bakura was angry.

****

Kano: ::shiver :: Bakura..angry..probably not good for anyone in his line of sight.

Ryou: He's gong to beat the crap out of me now, isn't he ?

Kano: :: blink :: :: blink :: ..Where did you come from? Eh, nevermind, I don't want to know. And you'll just have to wait until the next chapter to find out. Now..go back to..wherever it is you came from.


	5. Confusion aka ' The Incident '

Kano: Whee, Halloween was so much fun. We dressed up in all black and black leather boots. I had five people tell me to get the hell off their porch and one of them kept motioning at me with a cross! I wish Halloween came more often.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh ! I will, however, soon begin to collect Yu-Gi-Oh cards, and I shall own those. And my old calico cat, I own her too. But that is all.  
****  
  
Ryou scrambled up from the cold wooden floor, backing away slowly, soft brown eyes never once straying from the approaching Egyptian spirit. Both boys were surprised when Ryou suddenly fell back down to the ground, his head slamming back against the floor hard enough that the impact could easily be heard over the storm outside.   
  
Bakura warily approached him, eyes still narrowed as if Ryou were readying to attack him and not lying motionless on the ground.   
  
' Get up. '  
  
It was a simple enough command, but Ryou made no motion to rise.   
  
Bakura paused before kicking the seemingly unconscious boy. As he had expected, there was no response, only that the frail body had been turned over on its side with the force of the attack.  
  
Bakura sighed in frustration, but instead of taking his anger out on Ryou's prone body, he created a sizable hole in the nearest wall.  
  
****  
The first thing Ryou noticed when he awoke was that his head was pounding. It felt like someone had hit him over the head with a hammer, and definitely not the blunt end. The second realization, following mere moments after the first, was that he was locked in his soul room.  
  
' Wonderful.. '  
  
The word seemed to echo painfully in his ears, the darkness around him broken only by the on again, off again flashes of dull white and darker blue against ever-twisting, moving shadows.  
  
Ryou knew enough about the Millennium Items to realize that his soul room was simply a projection of his inner ID, but his soul room was the reason he was still afraid of the dark - not that Bakura had ever cared enough to ask, or explained to him that if he simply thought of light long enough, focused on it with all his mind, that there would be light.  
  
Perhaps the only thing that kept Ryou sane in these timeless periods of forced seclusion, was the thin ring of light that illuminated the space around him.  
The pain in Ryou's skull had just dulled enough for him to wonder exactly what Bakura was doing, when Bakura himself answered.   
  
In the unchanging expanse that surrounded Ryou, his voice was infinitely louder and grated on Ryou's still-pounding skull.  
  
' What I'am doing is none of your fucking business, Aibou. '  
  
Ryou could almost see the sneer on Bakura's face, the mocking look in his eyes as he spat out the last word ' Aibou', as if it were a death sentence.  
  
In the darkness of his mind, Ryou thought that in many ways it was.  
  
****  
Ryou was left in his soul room alone. He could only guess at how much time had passed..minutes, hours, days ?   
  
All he knew was that one moment he was staring out into nothing, and the next he was back in his body, staring at a reflection of himself in his bathroom mirror.   
  
He blinked and ran a hesitant hand through his hair. All the tangles that usually defined his strange hair-style had been meticulously brushed out until it was perfectly straight.  
  
Ryou made the mistake of running his fingers across the back of his head. He winced, and when he pulled his fingers forward they were tinted red with half-dried blood.  
  
He stood there, staring at his hand, trying to recall why his head would be bleeding.  
  
' Oh, right. That ice pack..Bakura was really angry though. I wonder where he - '  
  
Ryou glanced back up into the mirror and jumped, a half-strangled noise catching in the back of his throat.  
  
Bakura glared out at him from the mirror, and Ryou's eyes immediately dropped down to the linoleum tile on the bathroom floor.  
  
' You know how much I hate it when you do that.. '  
  
Ryou could almost feel Bamura's eyes turn dangerously cold.  
  
' And you know I don't care what you think, annoying little worm. '  
  
Ryou fought back the dread that settled in the pit of his stomach and forced himself to look up into the mirror. Unconsciously he fingered the ends of his white hair.  
  
' Bakura-sama..did you do this ? '  
  
For a long time there was no reply. Just as Ryou began to think that Bakura wasn't going to say anything, he heard a few barely uttered words that made his heart skip a beat.  
  
' Sore wa, himitsu desu.. '  
  
It wasn't so much the words themselves, but the was they were spoken that made Ryou actually face his Other eye to eye. The glance only lasted for a moment, but in that moment Ryou saw something other then hatred dance through Bakura's dark eyes.  
  
He looked back down at the ground, eyes widening with the realization that Bakura was actually trying to be nice.  
  
/ To me.. /  
  
His looked back up into the mirror, frowning in confusion and disappointment when he saw only his own reflection.  
  
He reached out slowly, not realizing his hand was shaking until his fingertips were pressed against the smooth surface of the mirror.   
  
Barely even registering the movement, Ryou pressed his forehead against the cool reflective surface. He sighed, his soft voice barely carrying to his own ears.  
  
' Bakura.. '  
  
****  
After the small ' incident ' in the bathroom, Bakura had retreated into his soul room. Because he had spent over 5000 years in the Sennen Ring, Bakura had learned how to bend the Ring to his will - to an extent. Sometimes it still seemed to act on it's own, despite either of the white-haired boys' wishes.  
  
His soul room had projected an almost mirror image of his old home in Egypt, but since being released by his current host body, he had been forced to inhabit the Ring no longer.  
  
Eventually the soul room had reverted into something that took less of Bakura's concentration. A large metal door barred most from entering, though Ryou was of no threat to his security.  
  
The stupid child had yet to even gain control of his soul room. Instead he wandered in shadows with no visible boundaries, no defenses whatsoever.  
  
Bakura paced back and forth in his black-walled solitude, constant bursts of red and dark indigo casting colored shadows over his anger-contorted features.  
  
****  
Bakura: What the hell did I just do in there ?!  
  
Kano: Um..meep?  
  
Ryou: Bakura-sama, if you start yelling at the authoress she might make you dress up in a bunny costume or something.  
  
Bakura: Who asked you Runt ?!  
  
Kano: I have head rats. Someone help. 


	6. InsAnity is in teh eYe of teh BehoLder

Kano: Yay, look, a chapter on a weekday ! GLORY FOR ZIM !  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh ! If I did, not only would Tea die a horrible death, but Honda would talk more and Jounouchi wouldn't have a New York accent.  
  
****  
  
Though Bakura raved and ranted, for the first time it was not his Hikari he cursed. It was himself.  
  
// What ? What in the name of Ra could have possessed me to..to actually help that sniveling, weak little coward ! Cleaning his wounds..wrapping them..and his hair ! //  
  
Bakura's voice nearly cracked, and he had to force himself not to start laughing hysterically. Maybe he had proven true the oft-repeated musings of his Hikari. Maybe he had finally lost it.  
  
// I mean..Ra! - his hair ! //  
  
Luckily Ryou had a much more limited access to their mind-link then Bakura. While Bakura could read Ryou's very thoughts and often ransacked his mind as a form of non-physical punishment, Ryou could do none of those things.  
  
True, there were some parts of Ryou's mind that Bakura could not access, but he was by far the more powerful of the two of them.  
  
In fact the one thing, the only thing, that Ryou could do that Bakura couldn't was sense his darker half's emotions.  
  
// Thank Ra for small favors.. //  
  
The white-haired spirit had given up on trying not to laugh, and had thrown himself on the bed that completely dominated one wall of his soul room.  
  
Actually, it was more a concoction of thick blankets and large pillows then a real bed, but he found it much more comfortable then anything he had slept in while in possession of Ryou's body.  
  
He sank down into layer upon layer of cool cloth, not to sleep, simply finding it easier to think without his emotions literally flashing on the walls.  
  
**** For atleast 15 minutes, Ryou had been trying to think of something to say to Bakura that would make him explain himself.  
  
When Ryou had first gotten used to the idea that Bakura- his Other, had actually bothered to clean his wounds and take care of him, his first reaction had been one of confusion, disbelief, and doubt.  
  
Lots of doubt.  
  
What if this was just another one of Bakura's elaborate plots to cause him pain?  
  
He had done it before, especially when Ryou was younger. Build up his hopes, make him believe that Bakura had changed- and then attack him.  
  
Violently.  
  
After the initial wave of denials, there had been confusion, most of which he had yet to clear from his psyche.  
  
Whenever he tried to coax Bakura out of the Millennium Ring, all he got was a very expansive barrier - the slap-you-in-the-face-and-steal-the-part-of- your-brain-that-regulates-breathing type barrier.  
  
Needless to say, Ryou gave up after the first few tries. His second option was to try their mind-link, but whenever he did all he got was the sound of muffled laughter and a wave of anger and fear.  
  
Ryou could understand the anger-after all, Bakura was always mad about something. And if Bakura was simply playing a trick on him, he could understand the laughter too. But not the fear. What did Bakura, mighty Tomb Robber, have to be afraid of anyway ?  
  
Ryou tried the mind-link once more, but all it gave him was a very bad migraine.  
  
So, instead of braving the trip downstairs to heat up some tea, Ryou burrowed down into the blankets on his bed, and almost immediately fell asleep.  
  
It was almost noon.  
  
The snowstorm outside was beginning to slow.  
  
****  
  
Kano: There, a new chapter. And the head rats haven't even-  
  
Bakura: Did you call?  
  
Ryou: Actually, I don't think she's very happy to see us. ..Are humans supposed to turn that color ?  
  
Bakura: I don't think so..let's slowly back away..  
  
Kano: :: twitch :: ..I'am going to go do homework now.. 


	7. Let Dead Dogs Lie

Kano: I had a very interesting dream last night. If only I could remember what the guy said about God..Oh well. Probably not important..or it's the key to jump-starting Armaggedon.  
  
Dislaimer: Do I look like I own Yu-Gi-Oh? Good, I didn't think I looked like a multi-millionaire japanese corporate business man either.  
  
****  
  
Bakura dug himself out from his small tunnel of pillows, having finally managed to calm himself down.  
  
Now he was just pissed off.  
  
At himself, at Ryou, at the storm. ( which he had not yet forgotten about )  
  
Basically he was back to his usually state of mind.  
  
Ryou had just given up trying to contact Bakura, and Bakura found himself searching the boy's mind to find out why. It was a simple matter to leave his soul room and enter his host's. He met with no resistance whatsoever, telling him immediately that the worthless ingrate was sleeping.  
  
He found that this was confirmed by the state of Ryou's soul room.  
  
Everything seemed slightly misted, and even Bakura's movements were uncommonly sluggish. Bakura had no fears of being lost in his Hikari's soul room, so he had simply picked a random direction and started walking.  
  
Not for the first time that morning, he was bewildered by his host's state of mind.  
  
// Nothing here, nothing at all..that idiot probably couldn't find the door out of this place if his life depended on it..//  
  
Bakura was cut off mid-thought. The shadowed fog that seemed to have taken permanent residence in Ryou's soul room had begun to coalesce and shift.  
  
When it had cleared again, a simple stuffed dog lay on the ground in front of him.  
  
It was perhaps only the size of Bakura's hand, and it's coat was a dull, faded brown. The ears were a slightly more vibrant reddish-brown and the tip of one of the ears, it seemed, had been chewed on.  
  
Bakura raised an eyebrow suspiciously before bending down and picking up the ratty-looking object.  
  
When he had straightened back up, he found that the fog had parted in front of him to form a long staircase that traveled down through the floor, melting into shadows after only a few steps.  
  
Bakura looked from the little stuffed dog, down to the staircase, then back again.  
  
He finally sighed, decided there was no harm in investigating, and proceeded down the stairs.  
  
Bakura had only put one foot n the very first step, but the moment he did so he found himself in a very long hallway.  
  
For a second he wondered how the hell he had ended up back in the physical world, until he saw that the walls and floor and ceiling, all were made up of the same twisting shadows in Ryou's soul room.  
  
He looked back behind him, a little startled when he realized that the stairs had disappeared. The child's toy was still clutched in his hand, but it looked even older now.  
  
Even as he watched, the color faded from it's ears.  
  
Bakura shook off his growing weariness and walked down the hallway. It didn't take him long to reach a small mahogany doorway, it's edges engraved with little trains and one engraving right in the center of the door.  
  
In sloping, intricate letters it read ' Please do not feed the Animal Crackers '  
  
Bakura glanced from side to side, half expecting something to jump out at him as he reached for the doorknob.  
  
// Ryou..I swear to Ra that if this is a trap I will personally remove each and every one of your fingernails with a screwdriver. //  
  
Ryou seemed to have heard him, for it was that exact moment that he awoke. The drowsiness left Bakura's limbs, but the door and the stairway went with it.  
  
He found himself outside the door to Ryou's soul room, and in the next second he was standing in Ryou's bedroom. The boy in question had just sat up, blanket pooled around his knees, rubbing groggily at his head. He had developed some strange sort of sixth sense and didn't need to look up to know that Bakura was there.  
  
Instead he stared down complacently at his bed.  
  
' Hello Bakura-sama. '  
  
It took the slightly dazed Bakura a few seconds to answer. He was still staring at Ryou. At some point before falling asleep, Ryou had changed into a large, oversized t-shirt. That combined with his slightly bed-raggled hair and half-sleepy expression made him seem like a child again.  
  
The only thing that marred it, that jolted Bakura back into the land of the here-and-now, were the sickly reddish-black bruises that ran up and down his arms, the bruises and old scars partially visible at the collar of his shirt.  
  
A sudden urge to protect his host surged through Bakura.  
  
// Whoever did all of that to him, I'll-//  
  
And then he remembered that he had done all of that. And that he couldn't very well kill himself, seeing as he was already dead.  
  
Still, the words Bakura spoke to Ryou were harsh, despite any fleeting emotions the spirit might have had. He had dismissed them completely in the space of a few moments, convincing himself that they were the after-effects of being in his Hikari's girly mind for too long.  
  
' You lazy, good for nothing piece of trash. You get one day off from school and you actually have the nerve to sleep. Did I tell you you could just lay around in your room all day? Did I!? '  
  
Bakura had approached the bed while he yelled, and now he reached out and jerked Ryou off of the bed by his elbow. There was a sickening pop, and Bakura dropped Ryou to the ground, surprised.  
  
Ryou landed hard on his knees, his hair obscuring his face from sight. Months ago he might have screamed, but his tolerance for pain had steadily increased. Now only tears stung at his eyes while his left arm hung, useless and almost numb, at his side.  
  
' I'am sorry..I'am sorry..God..Bakura-sama I'am sorry. It won't ever happen again..I promise..'  
  
Ryou continued on in much the same way, with barely a pause between his words.  
  
He had taken to babbling, and through the panicked haze that separated him from the worst of the pain in his shoulder, he realized that this alone was enough to get him beaten.  
  
When Bakura grabbed his arm, he had to bite down on tongue to keep from crying out. A metallic taste pooled in the bottom of his mouth.  
  
' You're lucky, Brat. You're shoulder has simply dislocated. '  
  
With no further warning, Bakura shoved the joint back into place.  
  
For moments at a time, all Ryou could see was white. He couldn't think, and had sense enough not to bite down on his tongue any harder. He would have screamed, but it seemed his vocal cords had chosen that moment to cease working.  
  
And then just like that, the pain was gone, replaced by a dull throbbing all through his left arm. Ryou leaned back against the bed, breathing hard, waiting for the little white spots to stop swirling around the room.  
  
He closed his eyes, blinking a few times, experimentally rolling his shoulder. With movement the dull ache increased to a slightly sharper pain, but that didn't bother him as much as he thought it would.  
  
Bakura had stood and moved farther away from the bed, pacing in what little room there was. Ryou watched him, pushing himself up from the floor, the hem of the t-shirt rubbing against his ankles.  
  
' Bakura-sama..I'am sorry if you thought I was ignoring you..'  
  
Bakura said nothing, still pacing.  
  
' I didn't mean to, really. I just- '  
  
Bakura turned swiftly, staring at Ryou until he, apprehensively, took a step back, knocking the back of his knees against the bed frame.  
  
' The.. ' Bakura paused to think of the word. '-snow storm has stopped.'  
  
Ryou hadn't even noticed the absence of the wind.  
  
' I'am going out, and it's none of your business where. If you even think about leaving this house, I'll lock you in your soul room for so long you'll forget what the sun looks like. Oh-'  
  
He tossed the stuffed dog onto the bed. It landed with a muted thump. Ryou stared at it.  
  
'-and do something with that thing. I don't care what, as long as I don't see it ever again.'  
  
And with that Bakura was gone, slamming the door behind him. Ryou sat down on the bed, picking up Bakura's 'gift '.  
  
The radio, in between bursts of static, proudly announced that the worst of the storm was apparently over.  
Kano: You know what I hate? I hate my computer. The damned thing- Ryou- It's not very nice to cuss like that. You don't know how many impressionable young children you could be mentally scarring for life- Kano: What are you doing back here? I thought I put a curse on you. Ryou: Nope. Kano: Oh. Well, okay. Where's Bakura? Ryou: He's..umm..a little preoccupied.. * Bakura appears out of nowhere..in a bunny suit * Bakura: Don't. Say. Anything. Kano: I knew there was something funny about that curse.. 


	8. Telecommunications

Kano: I have almost finished reading my book. It's called Moonheart, and it be-eth good. Anything by Charles de Lint is good.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. Why would you even think that? For shame on you, for shame.  
  
- Telecommunications -  
  
Bakura had been gone for nearly five hours.  
  
In that time, Ryou had cleaned up the house ( even though it didn't really need cleaning ), made himself a small dinner ( even though he wasn't very hungry ), and had taken a shower.  
  
He was in the middle of drying off his hair when the phone rang.  
  
Ryou wrapped the fuzzy white towel around his waist, wondering why anyone would be calling him. His Father had called to check up on him just last night, so it couldn't have been him.  
  
He blinked when the phone continued ringing, reaching down hesitantly and picking it up.  
  
' Moshi Moshi. Bakura residence.'  
  
' Hello Ryou. Did you see the storm we had this morning? '  
  
Deceptively innocent.  
  
Cheerful as sin.  
  
Yugi Motou.  
  
Ryou couldn't help but smile as there was the sound of a slight scuffle, and a deeper, more cynical voice was the next thing he heard.  
  
' Greetings Bakura. And just how is our resident Tomb Robber ? '  
  
Yami, Yugi's darker half.  
  
Ryou could tell from the ex-Pharoah's tone that he couldn't care less how ' The Tomb Robber ' was doing, but he answered him anyway.  
  
Or atleast he started to.  
  
' Actually, he's- '  
  
Ryou was cut off when, he assumed, Yugi made a playful lunge at the phone in Yami's possession. He heard a few half-spoken words, a small giggle- obviously from Yugi, and absently hitched the towel higher up around his waist, waiting for the mock battle to end so that he might actually hold a conversation with one of the spiky-haired boys.  
  
It was Yugi who eventually won, though Ryou could only imagine how. Yugi was quite small for his age, and Yami could have easily gotten the phone from him -  
  
' Ryou? '  
  
Yugi had obviously said something, and Ryou felt his cheeks turn red.  
  
' Forgive me Yugi. My mind sort of wandered off.. '  
  
Yugi was short of breath, laughter just barely contained beneath his words.  
  
' It's perfectly alright Ryou. '  
  
There was a pause. Yami said something, Yugi said something back.  
  
' Ryou, Yami keeps asking about Bakura. Um..where is he at anyway ? '  
  
Ryou knew how the rest of that question should have gone.  
  
Why wasn't Bakura in the background yelling at him to get his hair cut, he looked like a girl, making the vague threat that if he didn't Bakura would do it for him? Or, just that one time, yelling at him to stop crying, the knife hadn't gone in that deep, and to get off the fucking phone and stop being such a baby?  
  
' I don't know where he is. He left, went out for a walk after the storm let up..'  
  
Yugi relayed this information to Yami, who snorted contemptuously and muttered something that made Yugi gasp and reprimand him, saying that that was very rude, and that he shouldn't say that about anyone, not even Ryou's yami.  
  
Yami must have grown bored with the conversation, because soon Yugi's voice had lowered into that confidential, serious tone that only Ryou had ever heard him use before.  
  
' Ryou, how is..well, you know. He hasn't done anything, has he? '  
  
Ryou sighed a little, closing his eyes briefly.  
  
' Not really. I mean, early this morning he hit me, but I think it was just because he thought I was ignoring him.'  
  
There was a pause, but before Yugi could say anything, Ryou began speaking again.  
  
' I told him about..my Mother, and he said something about owning a cat once. Then he got angry and I tripped on my ice pack, so that wasn't really his fault. The thing is..he actually took care of me. He cleaned up my wounds and everything.'  
  
Ryou didn't bother mentioning that he had been locked I his soul room the whole time, or that Bakura had accidentally dislocated the boy's shoulder a few hours later.  
  
' That's great Ryou, I-'  
  
A pause.  
  
Yami was back, his dark voice muted in the background.  
  
A few words. Shuffling.  
  
' Bakura, you should be more careful. The Tomb Robber might be up to something.'  
  
Ryou shook his head. He still wanted to believe..  
  
' I don't know..it doesn't feel like he's planning anything..'  
  
Yami's deep voice was almost hypnotizing. Closer to terrifying, though Ryou had never been able to figure out exactly why.  
  
' Just watch him..carefully.'  
  
Not so much concern for Ryou as hatred towards Bakura, but Ryou had grown used to some of Yami's stranger personality quirks. Like all of those buckles for example..  
  
' I will..don't worry about it.'  
  
But it wasn't Yami he was speaking to anymore, it was Yugi.  
  
' I'am sorry Ryou. Yami's just a little paranoid. But he is right, and I do want you to be careful.'  
  
Ryou nodded, letting the towel around his waist drop while he went in search of his boxer shorts, still holding the phone to the uninjured side of his head.  
  
' I know Yugi, and I will be careful. Aren't I always ?'  
  
Once Ryou had located his shorts, he balanced on one foot, trying to keep his balance, hold the phone, and get dressed all at the same time.  
  
He succeeded with more grace then one would think possible in such a situation, pulling a long gray sweater over his head, still mindful of his wounds, and then an old pair of jeans.  
  
He could only hear a few brokenly muffled words of Yugi's reply, but he got the general meaning.  
  
' I know you do Yugi, but I'am fine, really I am.'  
  
There was a sigh on the other line.  
  
' Ryou, just please call if anything happens.'  
  
Ryou sat down on his bed, thinking of all those times when he hadn't been able to reach the phone, much less dial any numbers, times that Yugi only knew of vaguely.  
  
But Ryou never got a chance to reassure the younger boy.  
  
There was a small click, and the line went dead.  
TBC  
  
Bakura: I thought I told you you weren't allowed to talk on the phone anymore. Those calls to ' The Psychic Hotline ' were getting awfully expensive. Ryou: :: point :: She made me do it. Kano: Eep. :: runs away :: 


	9. Conspiracy Theory

Kano: We're baaack. And I bring you another chapter, so yay for me.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. I will, however, soon own all seven issues of JtHM.  
  
- Conspiracy Theory -  
  
Ryou sat there, his partially damp hair sticking to his sweater. There were a few moments of silence, and then the bottom stair on the starcase creaked.  
  
And then the next stair.  
  
And then the next stair.  
  
At the same time that Bakura began taking the stairs two and three at a time, Ryou leapt up from the bed and ran to the door, sliding in place an unsteady dead bolt he had installed sometime after Bakura left.  
  
The doorknob rattled so violently that Ryou was certain the deadbolt would not hold, but just as suddenly as it started, the movement stopped.  
  
Ryou, who was slowly backing away from the door, was painfully aware of Bakura's heavy breathing only a few feet away.  
  
' Ryou. Let me in, now.'  
  
Ryou could tell that Bakura was doing his best not to yell at him. A little merwling noise caught in the back of his throat as he stepped forward, hand hovering over the dead bolt.  
  
' Bakura-sama..where have you been?'  
  
A bang against the door made Ryou jump. It was unmistakably Bakura's fist slamming against the door, the wood nearly splintering.  
  
'I went on a walk, maggot. You know that.'  
  
Ryou paused. As long as Bakura was on that side of the door, he was relatively safe.  
  
' You went on a walk for five hours?'  
  
' Yes, I did. Any more questions ?'  
  
Bakura's voice was tight; strained. Ryou knew that he would have to let him in soon, or the beating, whether physical, or as Bakura preferred, mental, would be that much worse.  
  
Ryou bit at his bottom lip, stepping away from the door as he slid back the dead bolt. Bakura did exactly what Ryou thought he would do.  
  
He tackled him.  
  
Bakura landed on top of Ryou's smaller body, knees digging into his chest.  
  
' Now, little rat, who were you speaking to on the phone?'  
  
When it seemed that Ryou wasn't going to answer, Bakura dug his knees down into the boy's chest a little more.  
  
Ryou attempted to squeeze out from under him, but Bakura grabbed both his arms, crossing them at painfully odd angles over his chest, pinning Ryou hands down to the ground.  
  
The struggling immediately stopped when muscles and small bones in his arms that Ryou hadn't even been aware of having strained against even the smallest movements.  
  
' I..I was talking to Yugi, Bakura-sama..'  
  
Bakura hissed, pulling at Ryou arms just long enough to make the boy wince.  
  
' You actually spoke to the Pharaoh's damned hikari. How many times have I told you that you are not to speak to anyone while I am not home, and especially not him?'  
  
Ryou was starting to have trouble breathing, and he was loosing the feeling in both of his hands- which, he thought ruefully, was probably a good thing in case Bakura dislocated something else.  
  
' But Bakura-sama..if I hadn't answered the phone..Yugi might have thought something was wrong..and come over to check on me.'  
  
Bakura sneered down at him.  
  
' Ha. The Pharaoh's brat doesn't care about you. At best, you're so called friends only wish to keep tabs on you. They wouldn't want me ruining their precious little lives.'  
  
Ryou tugged at his arms in vain, shaking his head back and forth, eyes, as always, averted from Bakura's.  
  
' That's not true. You just don't want me to have any friends. You hate me. You hate everyone.'  
  
Bakura's eyes narrowed into thin slits of ebony.  
  
His grip on Ryou's wrists loosened and then tightened, and Ryou was sure that whatever small blood flow he had had to his wrists had just been cut off.  
  
' Hate you? I don't hate you. I'am trying to protect you you stupid brat. If you were to let something slip to your ' friends', they would banish me to the shadows with little thought to any effect it would have on you. And believe me, it would hurt for a very long time.'  
  
' When it's all over, they would ognore you, leave you to follow at their heels like some dog. They'll cast you aside once I am gone, and it will be no one's fault but your own. The only people who hate you are your friends and that bastard of a Pharaoh.'  
  
Bakura let go of Ryou's wrists, allowing him to slip out from under him and climb, slowly, to his feet.  
  
' I don't believe you.'  
  
Bakura shrugged, standing and leaning back against the door frame. His anger had quickly faded into a distant apathy that, if nothing else, made Ryou nervous.  
  
' I don't expect you to.'  
  
And the phone rang.  
TBC 


	10. Search to be lost

Kano: Another chapter, another weekend, another headache. Arg.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. So there.  
  
- Search to be Lost -  
  
Ryou kept a wary eye on Bakura as he picked up the phone, cutting it off mid-ring.  
  
' Ryou, are you okay? '  
  
Yugi sounded worried, even for him. Somewhere in the background, he could hear Yami in the background cursing in Ancient Egyptain. Ryou knew he was cursing because he had heard Bakura use those same words when he was particularly unhappy.  
  
' Yes Yugi, I'am alright. Bakura came home, and..well, he doesn't like me to be on the phone when he isn't around..'  
  
Ryou trailed off. Bakura had been glaring at him ever since he had mentioned Yugi's name.  
  
' Ryou, are you sure you're okay? We can come over if you need us to.'  
  
Ryou knew what that implied, and knew that the last thing he needed was for Yugi and Yami to arrive and further enrage Bakura. He shook his head quickly, though only Bakura was there to see the movement, coaxing Yugi as best he could to stay home.  
  
' No, no Yugi. Really, I'll be fine. Listen, I have to go. I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?'  
  
Bakura strode across the room, snatching the phone from him and slamming it down onto the receiver before Yugi could answer. He wrenched the plug out of the back of the phone, fixed Ryou with a glare that promised that if he even looked at the cord each of his fingers would slowly be broken off, and disappeared, Ryou assumed, back into the Ring.  
  
Ryou sat down on the edge of his bed, fingering the frayed edges of the stuffed dog's floppy ears. The action both comforted him and terrified him. His radio played some random song, the melody and words slowly fading away into the background.  
  
The minutes slowly crept by.  
  
When Ryou tried to speak to Bakura through their mind-link, all he got in response was a sharp mental slap.  
  
In other words, Bakura had effectively closed off his end of the mind-link.  
  
' I wonder what Bakura was doing for five hours out there..it's not like him to just go off by himself like that for no reason. Maybe he really is planning something, like Yami said..and since when does he carry around little stuffed animals?'  
  
Ryou cocked his head at the toy, it's beady eyes staring up at him lifelessly as he slipped off of the bed and onto the floor.  
  
' You do look a little familiar..'  
  
There was suddenly a dull white noise in the back of his head, and then a sharp pop, like all the air being sucked into a vaccum.  
  
Ryou still held the little stuffed dog in his hands, but he was somewhere completely foreign to him.  
  
The walls were as black as night, and seemed to extend upwards forever. There were dark red splashes of light that flickered against the walls, ever-shifting, and even the floor boasted these strange translucent lights. There was no real furniture, just an assortment of large pillows and soft blankets gathered in a pile along one wall of the room.  
  
'..Hello? Is there anyone else here?'  
  
His words were muffled, but still managed to echo in the expanse of Bakura's soul room.  
Ryou sat on the ground, chin cupped in an open palm as he stared down at the floor. Dark red and occasional flashes of indigo illuminated his pale skin, and Ryou wondered, if this was in fact Bakura's soul room, just where Bakura was.  
  
His question was answered all too soon.  
  
A thick metal door appeared not far from the light-haired Hikari. The door opened, slammed shut with a loud bang, and Bakura himself was approaching Ryou, who scrambled up from the floor, head down, hands clasped in from of him.  
  
' Bakura-sama..how did I get into your soul room?'  
  
Bakura stared down at the ragged dog held in Ryou hands, his dark eyes narrowing. Ryou could only wait, tense, and he jumped when Bakura grabbed his arm.  
  
There was another suctioned pop, and when Ryou opened his eyes he immediately recognized his own soul room. But instead of an un-ending shadowy nothingness, Ryou and his Other were standing in a long corridor composed of twisting shadows.  
  
The flashes of light were still present, but now there was a pale blue too, the color of apprehension and fear, that danced against the wall more brightly then all the others.  
  
There was a tall wooden door directly in front of them, and as Ryou watched with widening chocolate-brown eyes, the carvings on it seemed to move, the ghostly noise of trains and small twisted creatures echoing eerily.  
  
Ryou was suddenly uneasy and would have pulled back, further into the shadows, but Bakura's grip on his elbow was unshakable.  
  
'B-Bakura-sama..where are we?'  
  
Bakura's grip tightened, but he surprisingly answered the frightened boy's question.  
  
'I found this door earlier today..right before I left the house. Nothing like this was going on when I was here last, and the door won't open for me. I figured you would know something about it. This is your ID after all, idiot.'  
  
Ryou chewed at his lower lip, staring at the moving carvings on the door He barely noticed when Bakura let go of his arm, too deep in his own fear- thoughts to wonder why.  
  
But Ryou did notice when Bakura suddenly shoved him forward.  
  
He threw out his hands to save himself the pain of smashing his face into the door, but to the surprise of both himself and Bakura, Ryou fell right through the mahogany wood and varnish.  
TBC 


	11. kNOw future part one

Kano: This chapter was going to be a lot longer, but I decided it was too long and split it into two separate chapters instead.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. But I now own 34 Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Go me!  
  
- kNOw future - part one -  
  
Bakura blinked, staring at the door that Ryou had seemingly fallen through.  
  
It was the same as it had been an hour ago, lifeless and cold, just a door. No dancing little monsters, no annoying noises.  
  
// Dumb twit, what the hell did you do? //  
  
To Bakura's annoyance he found that the he shared was, so to speak, dead. He grumbled something that would have made the Pharaoh quirk an eyebrow, and proceeded to pound on the door.  
  
He wasn't surprised when nothing happened, and turning, he sighed, leaning up against the door with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans.  
  
' Bakura? Bakura are you out there? '  
  
The voice was muffled by the thick door between them, but it was still unmistakably Ryou.  
  
' Who else would be pounding on the damned door like a lunatic? Now, what the fuck did you do? '  
  
Wait a minute.  
  
It finally occurred to Bakura that Ryou had dropped the prefix from his name, a habit that had literally been beaten into the boy a year or two ago.  
  
And, without knowing how, Bakura knew that Ryou would have to be scared out of his mind to falter in such a way.  
  
' I-I didn't do anything..I just- '  
  
There was a pause, and then Ryou's voice had suddenly dropped to a whisper, so that Bakura had to press his ear against the door to be able to hear him clearly. And again, without knowing how, Bakura knew that Ryou was sitting with his back pressed up against the door.  
  
' Bakura get me out of here..please, please let me out..'  
  
Bakura's initial response was to say something along the lines of Do you think I'am holding a fucking key or something?, but by some turn of fate Ryou end of their mind link opened at that very moment.  
  
It was all Bakura could do to remain standing.  
  
Ryou obviously had yet to realize the link was open again, or perhaps he was simply too scared to do anything about it.  
  
/ Nonononono! Go away, leave me alone! You're not real, you're not here..this is just my imagination.. I know how the Ring plays tricks with people's minds. But you're not real..never real../  
  
' Please leave me alone.. '  
  
This last part was spoken out loud, and Bakura forced the link closed in an effort to keep what sanity he had left intact.  
  
' Ryou, what the hell id going on in there!? Answer me, damnit ! '  
  
For a long time the only sounds Bakura could hear were that of his own erratic heartbeats.  
  
Ryou's erratic heartbeats, actually, seeing as Bakura had no heart of his own anymore.  
  
Finally, when the silence had enveloped him and threatened to press and crush down on him, just when he was sorely tempted to reopen their shared mind just to make sure Ryou hadn't fainted or died or the like, a few half- whispered words reached his ears.  
  
' Bakura.please.please don't leave me here alone. '  
  
That one broken sentence, filled with more fear then Bakura had ever been able to inspire in his Host, effectively destroyed any cruel or hateful taunts that the white-haired Spirit might have thrown at the boy behind the door.  
  
Instead, Bakura slid to the ground, only now realizing how the non-walls around him flashed and twisted wildly, drenched in an icy pale-blue.  
  
' Will you just tell me what's going on? I..promise..I won't leave you, but you have to talk to me. '  
  
But there was only silence.  
  
-TBC 


	12. kNOw future part two

Kano: I bet you're all happy I finally updated. I thought you might be. Well..um..gee, what should I say except read the chapter. And if you don't like it, e-mail me, because I have no life whatsoever.  
  
**  
  
A minute passed, maybe more, as Ryou struggled to shape his fear into words.  
  
He hated the cold icy chill that had settled in the bottom of his stomach, and hated it even more that he couldn't pinpoint the exact reason he was afraid.  
  
At any rate, Ryou was almost perfectly sure that he had reached borderline hysterics. The urge to scream until his throat bled was too overwhelming. The feeling was not natural to him. None of this was natural to him, though it seemed like it should be by now.  
  
Falling through the door had been completely unexpected, and the jolt of landing on actual floorboards left him dazed. But even then, sitting up, rubbing his head and brushing at his scraped palms, he had recognized this room.  
  
Still Bakura pounded at the door Ryou had backed himself up against, the noise oddly faint despite the fact that the only thing separating them was a simple block of wood.  
  
He had seen Bakura break through doors - namely, his bedroom door - quite a few times, and it was hard to believe that this one had stood up to him for as long is it had - but then again things had always been different here in Ryou's soul room.  
  
The memory came to his mind of the conversation he had shared with Bakura just that morning, slicing through the cold dread as it gave him something else to focus on.  
  
He remembered how his head had ached as he faltered on his last words, the sentence going unfinished. At the time Ryou had accounted it to the injury to his head.  
  
But now he was not so sure.  
  
' I was left alone with my Father, workaholic that he is, and... '  
  
Again there was a small distant throbbing against his skull, but he ignored it as best he could, pushed it aside for this greater mystery.  
  
' My Father. But not..just..him. My Father and..my..my brother. '  
  
A pause.  
  
' But that is ridiculous. I don't have.. '  
  
But he knew that he did. It felt familiar, this idea of a sibling.  
  
Too familiar.  
  
' But why would I forget him? Him. Hanaka. '  
  
There was a ceramic lamp on a table, pushed up against the far wall, but Ryou had only noticed it because the pale light it had provided had suddenly been extinguished. It left the room as black as ink, and Ryou chewed on his lip out of nervous habit. The icy feeling in his stomach had returned full force. Not even this confusion over an apparently forgotten sibling served to keep it at bay. What was he supposed to do, how was he supposed to - Bakura.  
  
' Bakura. Bakura, are you still there? '  
  
The pounding on the door had stopped at some point, and the silence he gained in reply was deafening for it's implications. He sat there on the cold floor, back pressed against the once-more solid door.  
  
And then there came an answer.  
  
' Who else would be pounding on the door like a damned lunatic? Now, what the fuck did you do? '  
  
For some strange reason, and despite the harsh words, Ryou was actually happy to hear Bakura's raspy voice.  
  
' I-I didn't do anything. You're the one who- '  
  
Ryou fell silent in mid-sentence. He had seen something, a flash of color or a noise somewhere in the dark. He shrunk back against the door, curling in on himself, eyes darting blindly for what he knew must be there.  
  
' Bakura get me out of here, please. You have to do something. '  
  
The pain that had started in the back of his head was slow to ease up, but he could just barely keep himself from crying out when something - fingertips - brushed against his cheek. Ryou winced, trying as hard as he could to simply melt into the floor.  
  
' Hanaka..please leave me alone. '  
  
Distantly he could hear Bakura yelling at him. He said..something..but Ryou couldn't focus enough to sort out the words. Maybe it was just finally saying Hanaka's name out loud, but he found that his body wouldn't work properly.  
  
He couldn't move, couldn't breath, could only sit there shaking, trying to see something, be given any indication of what was going on around him.  
  
And then the fingertips, not hot, not cold, almost insubstantial, brushed across his throat and -  
  
Why did this seem so familiar? Ryou could see - himself, for he knew of no one else with white hair, but this Ryou was much younger. There were..people standing around him, all of them dressed in black, some of them crying, most of them standing in silence. He recognized his Father, a tall man even then, who was standing off to the side of his youngest son. And then, slowly, there was an older boy there as well. His hand firmly grasped Ryou's, as if the 9 year old might try and run away. A casket was slowly lowered into the ground, but the Ryou he was seeing tried to tug out of Hanaka's grasp.  
  
' Mommy!'  
  
Hanaka shook him a little, but when the little white-haired child began to cry, the older boy was just as quick to kneel down in the wet grass and hug him.  
  
moved onto his shoulder, tracing a path down the length of his arm. -  
  
This time there was a new image in his head. The young Ryou was there again, cooking dinner. Briefly the Ryou of here-and-now wondered where his Father and Brother were. A few quick flashes of a violet-haired man deeply involved in his work in the late hours of the night and a certain now- familiar Hanaka drinking sake in his bedroom helped clear up any confusion. The small white-haired boy finished draining out the spaghetti, making sure the stove was turned off before venturing into his Brother's room. The wariness was all in the child's body language, and Ryou soon learned that although the hazy figures in front of him spoke, he couldn't hear anything they said. So it was in this silent-movie type fashion that he watched the past-Ryou mumble something to a slightly intoxicated Hanaka, who promptly through the empty sake bottle at him. Ryou winced as the glass hit the wall and shattered, a noise which he could hear, watching in sympathetic understanding as the younger Ryou quickly backed out of the room.  
  
The nails of that same ghostly hand dug into his arm only moments later. He could feel the thin rivulets of blood that flowed down his arm, and yet he couldn't move to stop them, couldn't even -  
  
scream. Ryou was suddenly there again, only this time he felt like an intruder on some horrible moment that should never have taken place to begin with. Hanaka's long lavendar hair fell into his face in thin strands, partially blocking his intense eyes. It was obvious enough to anyone that he was drunk off his ass, but even that was not a suitable excuse for his current - or rather, past actions. Hanaka held a struggling past-Ryou against the bedroom wall. One of his hands was wrapped around the crying boy's neck, the other grasping his arm. The small half-crescent shaped marks on both of the Ryou's arms still bled quite freely, and Ryou glanced down at the all-too-real injury then back up at the scene in front of him. The last thing he saw was the miniature mirror-image of himself being dropped to the ground and  
  
and then the insubstantial hands vanished. Ryou frowned, watching the blood slowly drip down his arm in the dim lighting.  
  
The horribly disturbing qualities of everything that he had just seen crashed in on him, and he held back a sob as he drew his knees up to his chest, ignoring the pain that shot down his arm.  
  
A new fear seized him then.  
  
What if Bakura had left him there? What if Bakura had simply grown bored and left him alone in the dark where no one could ever possibly find him, taken control of his body so that no one would even know he was gone?  
  
' Bakura..please..please don't leave me here alone..'  
  
Without realizing it, Ryou held his breath, his tears pushed back as he strained to hear anything from the other side of the door.  
  
Bakura had done a lot of things, but..he wouldn't just abandon him.  
  
Would he?  
  
' Fuck, boy! Will you just tell me what's going on already?! I'am getting sick of waiting out here for your sorry whimpering ass. '  
  
**  
  
' I-I..I can't. I can't.. '  
  
Bakura snarled, wondering briefly if it would be worth the harsh punishment to just leave the sniveling worm here. Certainly no one would ever be able to find him, but Bakura doubted he would be able to fool the Pharaoh for very long.  
  
The angry Spirit stood, intent on pacing the length of the corridor until his frustration and annoyance had subsided. He had only taken a few steps before a little burning feeling raced up through the tips of his fingers.  
  
And it was in much the same lightening-quick manner that both white-haired boys were forced back into the physical world.  
  
After their abrupt dispatch, all was quiet in the dark hallway. The door that had held the missing pieces of Ryou's childhood slowly swung closed, but the horrors that both the Holder and the Spirit of the Sennen Ring had tried to contain were no longer so easily brushed away.  
  
There would be quiet no longer.  
  
**  
  
Kano: :: cough :: Before I get any nasty e-mails/reviews, Ryou does have an older brother in the manga. Or an older sister. Erm. Something to that effect. Anyway, it proves that I'am not just making all of this up. It has it's basis in fact, twisted as it is. 


	13. Temptation

Kano: Whee! New chapter! Um..not much happens in this one, I suppose. Yami and Yugi come to the rescue, and Bakura insults some people. Also, the fire ants that brought you the freaky symbols are now just little fire ant corpses. The end.  
  
Disclaimer: I hate these things. A lot. If I owned Yu-gi-oh I would be off trying to think of a way to hook Katsuya and Seto up, not writing Fanfiction.  
  
|Temptation In the Garden of Eden |  
  
Ryou's eyes slowly fluttered open. He was just debating the pros and cons of remaining conscious when Yugi's face swam into view. He jumped, sitting up so fast that the room began to spin. Ryou held his head, moaning, waiting for the dizziness to pass.  
  
' Yugi..what are you doing here? '  
  
Another thought suddenly surfaced in his foggy mind. He raised his head, eyes narrowing at the sudden overload of light.  
  
/ Where am I..Why is it so bright in here..? /  
  
He was in his room, on his bed. Someone had turned the lights on, but Yugi, noticing how Ryou blocked his eyes, quickly motioned for Yami to turn them off.  
  
' There. Is that better? Are you feeling alright? '  
  
Ryou nodded briefly, moving to get out from under the blankets that had been tucked in around him. Yami was at his side faster then should have been humanly possible, hands firmly wrapping around both of his arms.  
  
' Ryou, you need to stay- '  
  
That came from Yugi, but he stopped mid-sentence at the expression of pain on Ryou's face. Yami let go of his arms around the same time, having noticed the white-haired teenager's discomfort only when Yugi had. The three of them were fast to notice that the palm of one of his hands was red and sticky with blood.  
  
' Bakura, what happened to your arm? '  
  
Ryou, still half-hidden by the bed sheets, winced. It was obvious by Yami's tone that he knew exactly what had happened. Or rather, who had happened.  
  
' Get the Tomb Robber out here. Now. '  
  
Bakura must have been listening to their conversation because before Ryou could tell them what had really happened-or at least make up a good excuse- there was a bright flash of light and Bakura was sitting beside his softer look-alike on the bed, one arm slung over his shoulders so that he could he pull the boy closer to him.  
  
There was no love in Bakura's movements, no fondness, just a jerky sort of violence that matched the sneer on his face. His slightly narrowed red eyes screamed ' Mine. ' as he glared up at the spiky-haired spirit that stood beside the bed.  
  
' What are they doing here, Baka? '  
  
Again, Ryou never got a chance to answer. Yami interrupted him as if he weren't even there.  
  
' We're here to protect him from you, you spineless thief. '  
  
Bakura's glance shifted from Ryou and then back to Yami. They glared at each other in stifling silence until Bakura managed a half-growled reply.  
  
' I haven't lain a finger on him all afternoon, so drop the ' high and mighty ' act Pharaoh.'  
  
Yami frowned, grabbing Ryou's injured arm by the wrist, holding it up so that Bakura could see it from his vantage point on the other side of the room.  
  
There was a long rip in the gray sleeve, the ragged half-crescent gouges in Ryou's pale skin easily visible even in the dim light. A few of them still bled heavily, turning the cloth around the injury a dirty copper color. It was obvious to even the least medically educated person that they would need to be cleaned out and wrapped before infection set in.  
  
Something changed in Bakura eyes that, it seemed, only Ryou was aware of. To everyone on the outside they remained impassive and spiteful, but Ryou could not be so easily fooled.  
  
His Other was actually surprised, and for only a moment, concerned.  
  
Concerned about me.  
  
' ..I had nothing to do with that. '  
  
Over his shock rather quickly, a cold smile manifested itself on Bakura's face.  
  
' Little Ryou has a few more secrets then he is willing to admit. But, if we' re done here- ' Bakura accentuated his words in such a way as to say and we most definitely are, ' I will trust the Brat to show you both out of the house. Immediately. '  
  
He cast a fleeting glance at the Millennium Puzzle hanging around Yugi's neck, and then he was gone.  
  
Ryou suppressed a shudder at the wave of anger that washed over him through their mind-link. He moved to push himself up out of the bed, accidentally putting too much weight on his hurt arm.  
  
He would have toppled onto the floor if it hadn't been for Yami's natural speed, and he held Ryou steady until the boy had gained his footing. Yugi was at his side a heartbeat later, but by then Ryou had pushed himself out of Yami's arms, trying not to look as embarrassed and scared and exhausted as he felt.  
  
It must not have worked, because Yugi already had that horribly-upset- expression-that-sort-of-reminded-you-of-an-over-protective-Mother look in his eyes.  
  
' What are you two doing here? '  
  
Yugi's worried look seemed to intensify, though Yami had gone off on his own inner thought pattern, noting how, although Bakura did not bow his head, he did not look them in the eyes either.  
  
In fact, whenever he did have to look at either of them, his eyes trained themselves on the bridge of their noses or to a spot just to one side of their shoulders.  
  
His skin had become pale, noticeable more so then usual. There were dark shadows gathered around his eyes, red marks like..Yami took a moment to think of the word..like the imprints of fingers on his jaw line.  
  
Ryou was..gaunt. He looked like he was barely a night or two away from collapsing.  
  
Yugi sighed internally and, knowing that Yami's analytical musings could go on for a long time, took it upon himself to answer Ryou's question.  
  
' Well, Ryou, when you didn't show up at school at all this week..and, well, the phone was unplugged, so we got worried and came to check on you. .. I'am sorry if we got you in trouble. '  
  
Yugi bowed, hurriedly finishing his impromptu speech, noticing how Ryou had become more confused with each word he spoke.  
  
' What..what do you mean, all week? It's Thursday. I just talked to you today and.. '  
  
Ryou trailed off. Both Yugi and a now-attentative Yami were looking at him strangely, and it was starting to make him uneasy.  
  
' Ryou, it's Wednesday. I haven't spoken to you since last week..remember, that storm? '  
  
Ryou nodded numbly.  
  
' We came because we were afraid something had happened to you, and the school was starting to get suspicious.. '  
  
Yugi stopped there, but Yami readily took up after him.  
  
' When we got here, the door was already unlocked. All the lights were off. We found you up here, lying in bed asleep, and I would really like to know why your window is boarded up like that. '  
  
Yami spoke in the same tone he used when reading the grocery list. It was typical for him, as if his mind was too preoccupied to really pay very much attention to what his body was doing.  
  
Usually Ryou found it amusing, but he was too tired to be confused and too confused to find anything amusing. All he wanted to do right now was take a very long nap, to try and forget everything that had happened today..or rather, that week.  
  
He managed to get both boys out of his room and down the stairs, but Yugi refused to leave.  
  
' I'll go Ryou, but you have to answer one question first. Just one. '  
  
Ryou looked at him doubtfully, the unspoken warning from Bakura coming through painfully clear. He took a deep breath to steady himself and ignored his Other.  
  
' All right. Only one. '  
  
Yugi nodded, suddenly very serious.  
  
' Did your Yami have anything to do with your injury? '  
  
Ryou paused. If he said yes, lied, that would be the end of it. He was sure of it. Just that one little lie and Bakura would be gone forever. Yami would never stand to see Yugi upset, least of all by Bakura..he would be free..  
  
' No. '  
  
Ryou got the impression that Yami only just managed to restrain himself from glaring, while Yugi's hurt feelings were made more apparent by the saddened expression on his face. But he had anticipated their reactions already.  
  
Ryou knew neither of them would believe him, but..it wasn't like he could tell them the truth. He could barely remember all that had happened himself.  
  
He was about to show them out the door when something Yami had said struck him as odd. He stopped the Spirit of the Puzzle before he could follow Yugi out the door.  
  
' Yami, did you say that when you got here I was already in bed? I mean, you didn't put me there when you came in? '  
  
Crimson-tinted eyes bore up into his, and even though Ryou was a little taller then Yami, he still refused to meet the Spirit's eyes. There was silence for a long time, broken when Yugi called for Yami to hurry up. It was only then that Yami spoke.  
  
' No. I am positive that neither of us did. '  
  
And then Yami's voice dropped down to a more confidential whisper, so that there was no way Yugi would have been able to hear what was said.  
  
' Bakura, if there is something happening that you couldn't admit to Yugi.. '  
  
Somehow Ryou found the courage to lock eyes with Yami, and as he did the thought occurred to him that he could tell Yami everything. About his newly- discovered Brother, his lingering guilt over his Mother's death, all of it, and that Yami alone would understand and care and help in any way he could.  
  
Ryou was tempted to blurt everything out at that moment, but there was a disturbing glint in Yami's eyes that kept him from saying anything. Something that sounded suspiciously like Bakura warned him against trusting the ancient Pharaoh.  
  
' No. '  
  
The word was barely a whisper. Some sort of understanding passed between the two boys, Pharaoh and slave.  
  
Yami nodded a silent and grim-faced farewell, and then he and Yugi were gone.  
  
-TBC 


End file.
